Friday, July 23, 2010

As the kids would filter into the room for the summer reading program in select cities across the state of Nebraska, it was fun to see the looks on their faces as they sized up Freddie the Fish. With “Make a Splash Read!”, the theme of the libraries this year, it gave The Groundwater Foundation a perfect opportunity to spend some time working with kids at a program and sharing the protection message.

They would see Freddie hanging out in his fish bowl filled with water and ask, “Is he real?” I would always say, “No, but you will soon find out why.” We use Freddie to show how if we aren’t careful our water can become contaminated with different items. We use Kool-Aid and cereal and other items to represent those contaminants and show just how easily it can happen. The kids really form a bond with Freddie and make it an enjoyable adventure.

We also worked with each of them on making a water cycle bracelet that shows each part of the water cycle, represented by a different color of bead. We teach them about how it moves through the cycle and how each part is very important.

Over 1,000 kids took part in the 12 events in the towns of Wayne, Crete, Minden and Lincoln as part of the Let’s Keep It Clean! program, sponsored by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, The Nebraska Environmental Trust and the Water Systems Council.

We hope that each year we can tie the work of The Groundwater Foundation into the learning that takes place during the summer reading programs at our local libraries.